I recently found a great spot for mushrooming close to where I work, which is great for lunchtime forays. It's a small pine coppice next to a loch and the floor is dry and dim and covered in pine needles, with mushrooms popping up everywhere! I've collected a few specimens and attempted to ID them, but I'm still unsure about a few and would like confirmation from an expert before I eat any to avoid making a fatal rookie mistake! So I thought I'd ask you guys if you can help to identify them for me.

Here's the first one. I think this is Boletus edulis. You can't really see in the photo but it has a white net-like pattern at the top of the stem:

I think this one might be Agaricus silvaticus. Apparently it stains red when cut. I cut this one open after a few days when it'd dried up a bit and the flesh was brown, so I think I need to try again with a fresh specimen to see if it stains red:

I took a photo of this fine looking mushroom and when I checked my guide I found that it could be a death cap! Slightly worrying that there may be deadly mushrooms growing amongst those that I'd like to eat!

1. Yes agreed, this is a cep.
2. I can't be 100% sure from the picture, but almost sure it is a blusher.
3. I can't tell from the picture. I would need to see the cap more clearly and the gills. The smell is part of the ID for this one, it smells strongly of sweet almonds.
4. Looks like an old specimen but fairly sure it is a bay bolete.
5. I can't tell from the picture. The cap doesn't look correct and I cant see the gills. The red staining is normally quite pronounced on these mushrooms a little while after cutting (provided the speciman is not too dry).
6. I doesn't look like a death cap to me but difficult to tell for sure from the picture.

Hope this helps,

Garry

PS
Your very lucky, there is hardly any sign of mushrooms at all in Hampshire. The worst season so far I have ever known!

3. Sorry it's not a good photo. I didn't collect this one and when I went back some grotty students had kicked it to pieces! If I find another I'll have a sniff for the almonds. Here's a photo of the cap though:

I will go back for another and look for the red staining before it dries out. My other thought was Agaricus silvicola, but the cap is too scaley right? Also it didn't smell of aniseed.

6. Sorry I didn't get another photo of that one. I think I'll give it a miss for now anyway!

Thanks again for the help. Does anyone else have suggestions?

Glad to hear mushrooming can only get better! And I thought things were looking pretty good this year from what I've found! Although nearly all the specimens I've found have been nobbled by flies and maggots! Is this usual?

You generally get better responses to photos if you post them in the thread - oterwise people have to dive off and look at a dozen different webpages and easily lose track of the question. Photobucket should give you the text to copy automatically at the side of the image. It will look a bit like this:

3. Sorry it's not a good photo. I didn't collect this one and when I went back some grotty students had kicked it to pieces! If I find another I'll have a sniff for the almonds. Here's a photo of the cap though:

I will go back for another and look for the red staining before it dries out. My other thought was Agaricus silvicola, but the cap is too scaley right? Also it didn't smell of aniseed.

6. Sorry I didn't get another photo of that one. I think I'll give it a miss for now anyway!

Thanks again for the help. Does anyone else have suggestions?

Glad to hear mushrooming can only get better! And I thought things were looking pretty good this year from what I've found! Although nearly all the specimens I've found have been nobbled by flies and maggots! Is this usual?

The Blusher - I feel very uneasy about recomending eating this mushroom from a picture. I am reasonably confident from your pictures but pictures can be misleading. I eat blushers regularly and I think they are one of the tastiest common mushrooms. However, it took several years before I ate one. The basics of the ID are 1. Does it look like a blusher?; 3. Has the ring on the stem got striations on the upper surface? if yes you can be sure it is not the very poisonous panther cap; 3. Does it blush where damaged? (blushing is not immediate so best look for areas of slug damage). If all three of the above are confirmed then you should be OK.

Red Staining wood mushroom - Agaricus can be difficult to ID especially from a photo. Therefore, I can't help further with this one. Apart from to say that it doesn't look like a wood mushroom due to scaly cap.

The Prince - as above, agaricus can be difficult to ID from photos alone, so I can't help any further. In fact, the field mushroom is difficult to ID with certainty even for experienced foragers, even though many people (including the other poster) only pick these mushrooms. I guess more important in these cases is that you know it isn't a poisonous variety!

George - I did try to post the photos in the thread initially, but the images were too big and it wouldn't let me post them, so unfortunately I had to resort to links. If I have time I will resize my photos in future.

Garry - No worries, I understand why you wouldn't want to recommend someone eating a mushroom from a photo! I guess it's better to err on the side of caution with mushrooms and it only takes one mistake to be fatal! Maybe I will leave blushers for a while until I'm more confident and have more experience. It doesn't pay to be too bold too soon with mushrooms! It's just a shame with so many of them about.

I will try and get more information about the agarics before I go any further. At least now I can safely identify (and hopefully eat) ceps and bay boletes, plus the shaggy inkcaps and wood blewits that I found last year! :D